A fine Ancient Roman gold ring comprised of a D-shaped hoop and an applied large oval bezel. The ring is enriched by a banded agate stone finely carved with the standing image of a bearded male, possibly Bacchus the Roman god of wine. He is depicted facing right and holding a thyrsus (a staff tied with taenia and topped with a pine cone), a typical attribute of the god. The legs have been stylistically rendered in the form of a column on a small base. The term intaglio refers to a small image that has been engraved into a gemstone and usually set in a piece of jewellery, most commonly a ring. Such artistic form has its origin in Sumer in the 4th millennium BC, with the appearance of cylinder and stamp seals, whereby decorations and patterns were engraved into soft stones. During the Hellenistic period and the early Roman Empire, the art of intaglio reached its apogee, with there being a steady decline in craftsmanship in the late Imperial Rome, until a revival of interest with the Byzantine and during the Renaissance. Measurements: H 2.3cm x W2.4cm Internal diameter: circa 1.6cm; closest UK ring size: P Weight: 5.14g Provenance: From the late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister; from her collection formed early 1960s-1990s.